Final Goodbyes
by Reiji Neko Mitsukai
Summary: (Set in Freeza Wars timeline) This is it. The final fight. The fight that will decides who lives and who dies. (R&R would be very helpful!)


Final Goodbyes  
  
(Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ or any of the original characters. Nor am I getting any money off of this. I do own Dua, Beden, Raykon, and the Freeza Wars itself. Troana, Jemp, and Kien are owned by Troana. )  
  
(Author's note: Well, here it is. The final installment of the Freeza Wars. This fic will tell who will live and who will die, and if the remaining Z- Fighters will succeed in saving Earth. I hope you enjoy!)  
  
"Good morning mom." Dua unzipped the side of her sleeping bag and carefully got out. She zipped it up again and rolled it up. "Good morning Beden." "Feeling better?" asked Krillin. "Yes." Dua looked across their little clearing and saw that Troana still hadn't woke up. "I tried waking her up. She keeps on wanting five more minutes," said Kien. "That's you mother for you," said Jemp. Vegeta growled. "Why can't Kakarott's female brat wake up on time?" Gohan just rolled his eyes and attempted to wake his little sister up. "Come on Troana, wake up." Troana moaned and rolled over. "Just five more minutes, ok mom?" "TROANA!" Troana woke with a start. "Wha! Ok, I'm up!" "It's about time." Tien appeared emerging through the threes. "They got something down in the base. They want us to be there as soon as possible." Once they were all fully awake, they started out towards the hidden military base. As soon as they entered, the General greeted them, a smile on his face. None of the remaining Z-Fighters smiled back. "I have good news. Follow me and I'll show you." They followed him to a small lab. "My scientists have created an explosive that will create a large enough explosion that will surely destroy everything within a large radius." "Except how are you going to get it inside the base?" asked Piccolo. "That's where you come in. We need you to find out where Freeza is staying. There's a pretty good chance he's in a base. Then all you have to do is infiltrate the base, plant the explosive, press the button on the remote and the Earth is free again!" "It's not that easy," said Gohan. "Freeza will have that place packed full of guards. We can't hold that many off while someone plants the bomb. If we somehow did manage to get all the guards out of the way, Freeza himself will come and fight us. If that happens we're doomed." "We've got to try, Gohan!" Troana said. "This could be the last chance we get." Gohan looked at his sister with all the love a brother should have. Although she was his little sister, her being from the future made her older than him. She looked at him with big pleading eyes. "Dad would have at least tried." Her words hit home. Gohan let out a frustrated sigh and said, "We'll try to find out where he's staying. This plan of yours had better work." With that, they left.  
  
Later that day, Gohan and Piccolo were out gathering food. Gohan sighed and turned to Piccolo and asked, "Piccolo, do I remind you of my dad?" Piccolo was silent for a moment, then said, "I can see him in your eyes. You have your father's spirit fighting with you, Gohan. I remember when I first started training you." "Yea, I was a regular momma's boy." "That's not you anymore. You've become strong and powerful, just like Goku. You even surpassed him." Gohan listened to this, then tensed up. Piccolo instantly could tell that something was wrong. 'What is it Gohan?' Piccolo asked him through their telepathic link. 'I heard something, it's really close by…' Gohan suddenly reached out into the trees and pulled out a figure in a white uniform with a white helmet. Gohan ripped off the helmet to reveal an alien, one of Freeza's men. Gohan immediately whipped him around and held him in a headlock. "One of Freeza's men. Tell us where Freeza is!" Gohan demanded. "I am just a lowly soldier, why would I know?" he responded in a pleading voice. Gohan jerked the soldier and tightened his headlock. "Tell us!" "I know nothing about his whereabouts!" Gohan jerked him again and tightened the headlock even further. "TELL US!" Piccolo was a little surprised at how ruthless Gohan was acting. "OK! OK! He stays in a base far north, in a city the humans call North Satan City! That is all I know!" "Good." Gohan let him go, then chopped him in half with a swing of his arm. As the two halves fell to the ground and the alien took his final breaths, Gohan started to walk away. "I learned what I needed to." Piccolo followed him.  
  
When they got back, Gohan explained what happened. "So he's hiding up in North Satan City. That's a little far from here," said Tien. "I'll go tell the general that we've found out where Freeza is," said Gohan. "Be careful," cautioned Troana. Gohan waved goodbye and started out towards the base, alone. As he walked through the forest, his mind wandered. He still remembered Goku. How couldn't he? He remembered his famous grin that would show up frequently every day. He remembered every single spike in his hair. Most of all, he remembered his laugh. When Goku laughed, nearly everyone else within the listening area would cheer up. It was hard to believe he was of a war-like species. He was so cheerful and happy. Gohan guessed that's why it was so hard for him to see Goku when they found him in the ruins of their once cozy home. He remembered how Goku's neck was bent at an odd angle, and the red stain spreading on his shirt. Gohan had found out how Goku had died. The explosion sent pieces of wood flying, and a large piece went straight through his stomach. They found the piece of wood that went through him lying on the ground, encrusted in Goku's dried blood.  
  
Gohan walked into the base and met up with the general. "We found out where Freeza is staying. He's at a base in North Satan City." "Excellent!" said the general. "Now all you have to do is get the bomb there and this war is over!" "I wouldn't get too excited. We all could very easily get killed. Then you'd be on your own." "I'm trusting that you and your friends will do just fine. You can leave tomorrow. Stop by early to pick up the bomb and the rest is up to you." "I'll see you at sunrise," Gohan said coldly, than turned on heel and walked out.  
  
"What?? We're leaving tomorrow??" Beden asked, eyes wide. Gohan nodded. "We leave at sunrise for the base, then start to North Satan City." "We should get lots of sleep then," said Jemp. "We're going to be fighting three, maybe four of Freeza's men at a time." Troana spoke up. "It's about noon now. We've still got at least seven hours of daylight left, so let's make the most of it."  
  
Gohan sat at the base of a tree, sighed, and let his head rest on the bark. Piccolo hovered nearby, in shallow meditation. "What's bothering you, Gohan?" he asked. "Nothing really." Their telepathic link said otherwise. 'Why did everything go wrong? Was this supposed to happen? Or did we mess up somewhere?' 'Fate works in strange ways. You know that.' 'But was dad supposed to die? He did so much for the earth; he should have lived to help us. This would have been over a long time ago if dad was alive.' 'Gohan, I know it still hurts. But you can't blame Goku for what happened. You can't blame anyone. You still have Troana, and your nephew Kien. You still have family, Gohan. And you still have your friends. I know. I lost Raykon twenty years ago. And it still hurts. Raykon was taken from me just as your parents and Goten and your little sister were taken from you. I still find myself wondering what Raykon would have been like if he hadn't been killed. He was my only son, and I would have done everything I could if I knew what was going to happen to him. But that is all in the past, and what happens next is up to us.'  
  
Tien walked over to his sleeping bag and picked it up before he looked around. Gohan and Piccolo were to one side of the clearing, Piccolo hovering and Gohan resting against a tree. Troana, Jemp, and Kien were to another side, in their own family triangle. Troana was apparently telling them about Goku again. Vegeta was off training by himself again. Tien guessed it must've been pretty hard on him to loose his wife and son, but he wasn't showing it. Dua, Krillin, and Beden were also in their own family triangle. Tien couldn't hear what they were saying. Tien was alone. Just like Vegeta. Tien sat down at the base of a tree. 'Chiaoutzu, why did you have to die? Why did you volunteer to destroy that base? Did you do it because you didn't want to live like this? Why didn't you let me go with you?' Tien looked around at the two families and Gohan and Piccolo. Troana turned to look at him and waved him over. "Come on, Tien. You're a part of the family as much as any of us." A tiny smile appeared on Tien's face as he walked over towards the family. "Come on, Uncle Gohan! You too, Piccolo!" Kien called.  
  
Troana watched with a small smile as Gohan, Piccolo, and Tien sat with her family. "You guys are a part of this family whether you like it or not!" Kien, now sitting between his father and his uncle, looked up at Troana and said, "Come on mom! What happened next?" Troana managed a faint smile. "I honestly can't remember. It was so long ago," She looked at Gohan. "Gohan, do you remember what mom and dad looked like?" Gohan paused. "Yea, I remember." He brought his knees up to his chest and rested his elbows on them. "It's been a while, but I still remember."  
  
Krillin, Dua, and Beden sat at a corner of the clearing. Krillin shifted his legs so he didn't cut off the circulation to them. The last thing he needed was another missing limb. "I can hardly remember the last time I could walk down the street without worrying about getting blown halfway around the world." Dua stretched her arms above her head. "If this plan does work, and the earth is set free, I wonder how much of Earth's population is left. We can only imagine how Freeza is treating those in the slave camps." Beden looked at his mother. "Mom, what was it like when Earth was free?" Dua thought for a moment. "It's been awhile. But I know you'll like it. You and your father can live peacefully, besides the occasional civilian thanking you for saving the Earth." "You mean after all the cities are rebuilt, and humanity gets back to its feet?" asked Krillin. Dua just nodded. "Hopefully it won't be too hard for you two to find a decent house, or at least to build one." Krillin looked at Dua. "What's all this about just me and Beden? We are all going to survive this. No one in this family will be left behind." Dua rested her head on his right shoulder. "I hope so." He put his good arm around her shoulders and hugged them lightly. "I promise."  
  
The sun had eventually set. The cold night swept over the land as the skies darkened. Vegeta had returned and gone straight to bed. As a half moon appeared overhead, Earth's last hope rested below. Gohan and Piccolo slept beside each other, as they have been ever since the day Goku had died and Gohan cried himself to sleep. Troana lay on her side, her head resting on Jemp's shoulder. Jemp lay on his back, an arm around Troana's shoulders. Kien lay beside his father, sleeping against his body heat. Tien lay a short distance away from them. Vegeta lay a distance away from all of them, sleeping soundly. Dua lay on her right side; her head resting on Krillin's shoulder and her left hand resting on his chest. Krillin lay on his back, his right arm stretched across and wrapped around Dua's waist. Beden lay beside his mother, dreaming of Earth without Freeza's rule.  
  
(Author's Note: Well? What do you think? I'm still barely halfway. Will they succeed? Will they fail? You're just going to have to wait to find out.) 


End file.
